Look for hardware specifically made for coastal regions. Here's one example.

Look for locksets in a US32D finish, that would be a brushed stainless steel.

I replace every 2-3 years. You can get all the pretty locks and spend a lot of money but then the internals can still rust. Even stainless rusts at some point depending on wind patterns/humidity etc. If you can, you would inject the locks every month with rust preventing liquid - I forget the exact name. But if you can't - just replace frequently.

It is just like the lights - I thought I was being smart and bought plastic but the bulb rusts and fuses. Now it is possible that LED might last long enough that it doesn't matter but what I find is that the internal terminals are rusted at 5 years anyway and become a hazard.

The frustrating thing about replacing is that you can lose relatively new things when hurricanes come through. We did our 5 year change out of many things... thankfully most survived. We had ordered a new couch and loveseat that thankfully got put on back order so we decided to wait a year. Good thing since the mold now has us throwing out everything fabric based....

Want to use most resistant to rust materials I can as this switching at 2 years is a pain. Just bought new hinges for every exterior door in stainless steel, they had rusted terribly in such a short time!
I was picky with the lights and they are holding up nicely, remove them for Hurricanes- not loosing them! Never thought about hinges and doorknobs rusting through the build, lesson learned for all other building coastal.

Interesting. I am 7 years on original hinges but not on one of the doors - I guess the rest are probably stainless. I agree that changing every 2 years is annoying. I am pretty sure I had stainless to start and it didn't matter. The really frustrating thing is water valves. They rust out in 2 years and are much more of a pain to switch out. I keep meaning to change to plastic....

I'm no help, OP, but find this so interesting - how fast rust happens on your ocean-side homes. (My 1920s home - in a suburb about 10 miles from the ocean - has original metal hinges and knobs. Never occurred to me others replace them other than to change style.)

Amanda, where are you located? Not all ocean front is the same!

We rented an ocean front house in Santa Monica, CA for a month and it is not the same climate as being ocean front in Florida or NJ. The overall humidity is much lower in CA and we get very little rain, so there is a lot less damage to property.

I used to live in the northeast, so I'm always amazed at how long things last here in CA. You see few rusted cars. Exterior paint jobs seem to last for ever. I just had my wood stained garage doors touched up after 7 years of eastern sun exposure. They would have needed work after 2 years if I lived anywhere else.

chispa - salting the roads is why you see rusting cars rather than the lesser amount of humidity I suspect. I live in coastal Texas, high humidity - very few rusting cars unless they have damage to the body parts.

New-beginning - and cars are mostly plastic these days too! My DH leaves garden tools outside all the time. In the northeast the shovels would rust out in 2 years. I don't think he has had to buy any new ones in 8 years here in CA.

My parents had a house in the West Indies and my father bought marine grade/316 stainless steel knobs and other hardware, which seemed to work quite well. I can't remember the manufacturer (this was about 30 years ago), though I seem to recall it was available in polished as well as satin finishes. It was a constant battle against rust, mold, and mildew there.

contact the manufacturer. many of them have very good warranties on their products. some are lifetime....

Will look for stainless steel knobs 316 mentioned. Coastal Florida seems to be prone to rust- very very humid. I will let you know what I find. Replaced hinges with stainless steel hinges from HingeOutlet.com and that should fix that problem but won’t know for certain for a few years.
I hope I will be able to find the doorknobs as changing them every two years would be aggravating.

Just wondering Phyliis Fox if you were able to learn anything about the hinges you used or finding better locks and doorknobs for your oceanfront house. I face the same and it is a constant battle. Sourcing good product is the difficult part. Did you find any? Love to hear in Palm Coast Florida

We are in NJ and our second home is 4 houses from the beach. We have Baldwin hardware and it has not rusted.